ARCHEOLOGY OF SPACE | DAVID SPRIGGS
01.26.2008 | 03.01.2008
Montreal artist David Spriggs’ work presents an engaging and original investigation of three- dimensional space. He has developed a unique method of layering transparent drawings to create the illusion of a third dimension. Although his mechanisms are simple and not hidden from the viewer, his work retains an aura of mystery and evokes a sense of wonder. The forms he creates appear suspended in space and locked in time within the museum-style display cases which contain them. Through his idiosyncratic practice, the artist explores the multiplicity of time and space producing work that re-examines earlier concerns such as the motion studies of Muybridge and the explorations of speed by Italian Futurist Boccioni, bringing to them new insights reflecting the digital age in which we live. With its representation of serialized time, David Spriggs works also bring to mind the artifice of cinema and the multiple frames of film that create an image. By deconstructing three-dimensional form, the artist makes us acutely aware of the mechanics of vision and the function of optical illusion
The image deconstruction process turns out to be crucial when compared to that of vision. As a result, there is a vitality of lines – forces that decompose reality. Ultimately, David Spriggs’ art combines painting, drawing, photography, set design and sculpture in order to create a topographical spatial system that belongs to him only. While his subject is withdrawn, as a lab specimen, it nevertheless leads to observation and interpretation. New work made expressly for this exhibition will push further the methods and ideas Spriggs has developed in his work although continuing the use of multiple layered sheets of transparent film to create a three-dimensional representation of forms in space. The new works will look at concepts of power, movement, deconstruction, and the immaterial. The artist has recently been experimenting with the possibilities of using a roller and motor system to enable one long transparent sheet to move through a space. The sheet will wrap through a series of rollers creating a layered effect revealing a three-dimensional subject. That form will go through a process of deconstruction to reformation completing a full loop back to its starting position.
Comments Lyne Crevier.
David Spriggs immigrated to Canada from England with his family in 1992 and resided outside of Calgary until 1996 when he attended the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver where he received his BFA in 1999. While enrolled at Concordia University in Montreal, he attended Central St. Martins College in London, England and Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany. He received his MFA from Concordia University in 2007. His work is represented by Galerie Art Mûr in Montreal. Archaeology of Space is Spriggs first solo exhibition in a public art gallery. A catalogue documenting David Spriggs work will be co-produced by the Southern Alberta Art Gallery and Rodman Hall Arts Centre, Brock University where the artist will exhibit his work in the spring.
This exhibition is organized by the Southern Alberta Art Gallery and curated by Joan Stebbins. Funding assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the City of Lethbridge.
